Formulation 1’s aggressive order was shaken up in 2026 with the roll out of sweeping new rules throughout the chassis, aerodynamics and energy items. Mercedes got here out on prime, with it now main the constructors’ standings and Kimi Antonelli is on prime within the drivers’ championship.
However the staff hasn’t been bulletproof this yr, and powerful performances from drivers up and down the grid have proven that there’s nonetheless loads at stake in F1 2026. Right here, we glance again on a few of the finest drives of the yr up to now, which present that a fantastic driver can nonetheless make a distinction in F1 2026.
Lewis Hamilton on the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix
The auguries for Ferrari success in Barcelona weren’t nice from FP1 onwards – a session Lewis Hamilton missed, on account of getting to offer his automobile to Dino Beganovic for one of many seasonal ‘rookie runs’, and during which Charles Leclerc was third quickest, albeit half a second off the pacesetting Mercedes of George Russell. All this on a weekend during which Ferrari added one more improve bundle.
Hamilton was then over a second off absolutely the tempo in a disappointing FP2, complaining volubly about horrible tyre degradation. It’s changing into evident in 2026 that, owing to the subtleties of working the brand new energy items, lacking a session is extra disadvantageous than it was, even at tracks comparable to this one, which a veteran of Hamilton’s calibre might lap blindfolded.
Solely after what he described as a “reset” between FP3 and qualifying – the place he left the paddock solely – did Hamilton discover his groove, lacking pole place by a matter of milliseconds after overcommitting into Flip 1. A exact really feel for modulating brake enter has lengthy been a Hamilton core ability, and it so occurred that the SF-26’s strengths aligned together with his by the medium-speed corners that predominate at this observe.
Within the race, Ferrari wrongfooted Mercedes by beginning Hamilton on soft-compound Pirellis of which solely used units have been out there. Although this didn’t have the specified impact of enabling Lewis to grab the lead initially and set up observe place, he managed what was clearly a three-stop technique completely.
Mercedes, in the meantime, bent its deliberate two-stopper off form by pitting Russell to cowl the potential undercut when Hamilton stopped comparatively early. However as Russell and team-mate Antonelli started to struggle each other because the race wore on, whereas the Merc pitwall continued to view the McLaren of Lando Norris as the primary menace, Hamilton executed his center stints completely to set himself up for victory.
A well timed digital security automobile enabled Hamilton to pit cheaply for his closing set of hards. Earlier stops for the Mercedes duo had left him operating within the lead and he was in a position to cease and retain it, whereas in green-flag situations he would in all probability have emerged in fourth place behind Russell, Antonelli and Norris. However even then he would have loved a tyre-life offset and he had the tempo to win anyhow.
Lewis has damaged many data in his life and his first grand prix victory for Ferrari (so as to add to his dash win in China final yr) set a brand new one: the oldest driver to win a GP since Jack Brabham in 1970. He may break that file once more earlier than he retires…
– Stuart Codling
Kimi Antonelli on the Monaco Grand Prix
If there have been any doubts about Antonelli’s skill to deal with stress or his championship credentials, the Italian’s efficiency across the well-known streets in June certainly banished them.
Firstly, qualifying. Mercedes seemed weak earlier within the weekend on such a good circuit the place dealing with and downforce are inclined to trump energy – or, this season, intelligent electrical energy administration. Native hero Leclerc, thrice a Monaco polesitter and driving a Ferrari believed to go well with the circuit, topped Q1. 4-time world champion Max Verstappen topped Q2 for Purple Bull.
However Antonelli pulled out a Q3 lap to pip Verstappen to pole, 5 spots and practically 0.4 seconds sooner than team-mate and title rival Russell.
Come the race, Antonelli was masterful, appeared impervious to stress and appeared to easily take pleasure in throwing his W17 across the principality. Sure, Verstappen’s Purple Bull failed initially, however Antonelli nonetheless had seven-time world champion Hamilton chasing him.
Antonelli held the lead from the off – defying his poor getaways earlier within the marketing campaign – and spent a lot of the race driving away from the sphere. He was nearly half a minute clear and had lapped Russell, mired in site visitors and within the midst of a penalty-riddle run, when Lance Stroll crashed and introduced out the protection automobile, which then led to a stoppage after Leclerc shunted too.
Antonelli thus misplaced his huge lead and confronted one other standing begin. It could have been a travesty had that been his downfall, nevertheless it didn’t occur. He merely took off once more and pulled away, setting a quickest lap on the 76th tour that was 1.2s faster than anybody else managed all afternoon. Class.
It is likely to be some time earlier than Antonelli takes a greater win in F1. Then once more, it won’t…
– Kevin Turner
Max Verstappen on the Austrian Grand Prix
It’s unusual seeing the perfect driver on the planet sit sixth within the championship, however that’s the state of affairs introduced to Verstappen within the 2026 marketing campaign as a result of his irritating RB22. The Purple Bull began the yr with a weight drawback and, because the season has progressed, different points have emerged – like an especially slender working window.
That has slumped it to fourth within the constructors’ standings, however it’s taking nothing away from Verstappen’s capabilities as a result of on the uncommon event the RB22 has discovered that good working window, the four-time world champion has been available to ship.
Montreal, for instance, was his first podium of the season and he’s additionally achieved a prime three end within the final two: Spa and Budapest. However his second of 4 podiums in 2026, Austria spherical eight, was arguably his most spectacular as a result of it so simply might have been a record-extending sixth victory for him on the Purple Bull Ring.
Issues clearly didn’t begin notably effectively as a crash late in Q3 – attributable to a rear wing situation – demoted him from third to fifth on the beginning grid, however Verstappen had recovered with a fast double overtake on Antonelli and Leclerc throughout lap two.
Outdated title foe Hamilton was subsequent in his sight and after two near-identical wheel-to-wheel battles, Verstappen lastly took second come lap 22 earlier than quickly closing in on Russell. However simply as he reduce the hole to 2 seconds, Mercedes pitted the Briton with Purple Bull making the error of retaining Verstappen out for 5 additional laps.
A mistake as a result of the Dutchman rejoined 10s behind, placing him again to sq. one. Verstappen nonetheless wanted Russell and reduce the deficit to simply 1.6s throughout the ultimate 11 laps, leaving Purple Bull to consider what might have been.
If it weren’t for that flawed strategic name, Verstappen might simply have taken victory that day. So it was very a lot a champion-like efficiency.
– Ed Hardy
Oscar Piastri on the Japanese Grand Prix
Pause for a second and attempt to suppose when was the final time Oscar Piastri received a Formulation 1 Grand Prix? It might take some time… Might or not it’s Zandvoort, nearly a yr in the past? Yep, that’s the one.
31 August 2025 was just about the final day we noticed the Piastri who seemed like a world champion within the making. That day, team-mate Norris retired as a result of an oil leak, stretching the Australian’s championship lead to an enormous – and, it appeared on the time, decisive – 34 factors. Piastri would’ve received that race regardless, as at that time he was clearly the sooner McLaren driver. He had Norris coated – each within the race and within the title struggle.
No matter occurred subsequent, we’ve nearly by no means seen the identical Piastri present up at a race observe on a racing Sunday. Bar a single day on the finish of March this yr in Japan.
After a disappointing crash on the lap to the grid in Melbourne and a DNS in China, Oscar appeared like a person who couldn’t catch a break after spectacularly dropping out within the 2025 title battle. However Suzuka had all of the hallmarks of the beginning of 2025 for Piastri.
He was persistently sooner – by round 1 / 4 of a second throughout all three qualifying segments – than Norris, one thing that has been a rarity since that very same Zandvoort weekend. Then got here an distinctive begin, made much more spectacular by the actual fact it was truly his first of the yr, capitalising on the Mercedes pair’s sluggish getaway to transform P3 on the grid into the lead. Then a yo-yo second with Russell on lap eight noticed the Australian hold the lead for longer, regardless of Mercedes clearly having the quickest automobile at that time within the season.
“If we maintain observe place, I believe we will cling on to this,” he then reported again to the pitlane by lap 15, with the tone of an plane pilot informing the passengers that the flight will arrive proper on time.
He comfortably stored the lead over Russell after the pitstops, nevertheless it merely wasn’t meant to be – Oliver Bearman’s large crash brought on a security automobile at precisely the proper second for Antonelli to get an affordable cease and leapfrog each.
Whereas he couldn’t struggle the Italian after that, Piastri merely stored away from the pack of battling Ferraris and Russell, leaving them to scramble for the ultimate podium place. Norris wasn’t even near it.
– Oleg Karpov
George Russell on the Australian Grand Prix
This season has clearly not gone as anticipated for Russell, who’s third within the standings with a 59-point deficit to his championship-leading team-mate Antonelli. However, as Oleg rightfully talked about with Piastri, there was a time when the Mercedes driver seemed like a world champion in ready and that was the 2026 opener in Melbourne.
Russell understandably arrived because the pre-season title favorite and he backed it up by taking pole in a Silver Arrows 1-2, three tenths forward of Antonelli and a dominant eight tenths over third-placed Isack Hadjar within the Purple Bull.
It was the Russell that F1 had seen in 2025 and the one which was anticipated for 2026: a grand prix profitable veteran now primed for his maiden title tilt. “A fantastic day,” he confidently mentioned. “We knew there was a whole lot of potential within the automobile, however till you get to this primary Saturday of the season, you by no means know. However it actually got here alive this afternoon.”
The identical story sort of adopted the following day, although not as simple. Russell endured a poor begin – a theme for Mercedes within the early rounds – as Ferrari’s Leclerc took the lead on lap one earlier than jousting the Briton in the course of the opening stint.
It was yo-yo racing at its most excessive, however the Scuderia’s try to pit Leclerc 13 laps later than Russell massively backfired because the Monegasque rejoined 16 seconds behind. From there, the Mercedes driver was effectively in management and cruised to victory in an eventual Silver Arrows 1-2 by three seconds.
“Very good, very good,” Russell buoyantly reacted. “I like this automobile, I like this engine – nice job!”
The drive was definitely up there as one among his most interesting and though Russell was behind Leclerc at occasions early on, there was at all times the sensation that he’d nonetheless find yourself taking the chequered flag.
– Ed Hardy
Pierre Gasly on the Japanese Grand Prix
Pierre Gasly’s Japanese Grand Prix efficiency has maybe been the perfect drive by any midfield runner this season.
Kicking off the aggressive periods in spectacular trend, the Alpine driver outqualified each Purple Bull racers by a number of tenths on his strategy to seventh on the grid.
Gasly held off fellow Frenchman Hadjar initially to take care of that place; he understandably couldn’t match the frontrunners’ tempo however, forward of the primary spherical of pitstops, he led Verstappen by three seconds and the second-best midfield driver, Esteban Ocon, by 14 seconds.
Nonetheless, the protection automobile intervention for Bearman’s hefty crash bunched up the pack, and Gasly instantly discovered himself beneath intense stress from Verstappen – stress he efficiently withstood all through the final 26 laps of the race.
“Everyone knows Max is rarely giving up,” Gasly commented. “We have been sturdy in numerous elements of the lap, so it simply made my life not too simple. I needed to play a bit sensible with my battery at any time when I might see it was getting shut.”
Underneath the chequered flag, ninth-placed Liam Lawson was 18 seconds adrift of Gasly – a niche accrued over the aforementioned post-neutralisation distance, equating to seven tenths per lap.
“It is the proper weekend,” Gasly reckoned. It’s onerous to disagree.
– Ben Vinel
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